Not much point in running

Last night Jeannette and I were walking along Purdy's Wharf in the the Halifax harbour, a location that happens to be adjacent to a naval base, when we heard a loud announcement stating that the HMCS Fredricton was on fire. Troops were requested to muster immediately.

Given that both of us were familiar with the concept of Halifax explosion and aware that the explosion was caused by a the combination of fire and military vessels our first reaction should have been to vacate the area. Clearly standing around and watching a naval ship catch fire is not a particularly good idea.

Of course, instead of immediately making our way back to a location that wasn't completely open and from which the HMCS Fredricton wasn't visible we decided to take a seat on one the benches on Purdy's Wharf and see if we could figure out what was going on. At first the only thing that happened was that we were treated to another instance of the original announcement, confirming that something was up.

Amazingly, though I guess we were a little ways away, it wasn't immediately obvious that emergency crews were springing into action or that any mustering was taking place. Fortunately there was also no smoke to indicate that the fire was particularly large or spreading.

After a few minutes of what appeared to be complete inaction (as far as we could tell we were the only ones even remotely concerned about the whole thing) another announcement was made which suggested that everything was under control and the the situation had been caused by something or other shorting.

Though in the end nothing much happened, this brief flash of excitement did provide me with an opportunity to learn three things:

1) This blog, and my desire to fill space on a regular basis, has encouraged me to look for content in the worst circumstances. For instance, instead of trying to leave the site of a possible naval disaster I took a seat facing the source of a possible explosion hoping to see any excitement so that I could relay the details to our large, loyal, and discerning readership.

2 The Canadian Forces provide high-quality, information rich announcements. Even though I was on Purdy's Wharf I knew exactly where the problem was almost immediately and shortly thereafter I knew how the situation had been resolved. I was able to leave the site comforted with the understanding that had neither missed anything or that I would possibly have to run from a giant explosion.

3) From the outside it is damn difficult to see that anyone is engaged in responding to an emergency announcement at this naval base. As far as I could tell there was just as much action on the base before the announcement as there was immediately after. It was strange to hear such a shocking announcement and then see absolutely nothing happen in response. It almost felt like base was already empty and that there was no one there to respond to such an announcement (though I am sure that this is not the case). Actually, where the hell was the fire boat that I know they have? Wouldn't you expect such a piece of equipment to be deployed in such a situation?